RICHMOND, Va. — Not unexpectedly Wednesday, a Senate justice committee in the Virginia General Assembly quickly stomped out a proposed bill by an Alexandria Democrat that would make simple possession of marijuana a civil offense, punishable by a $100 fine. Roy Scherer, Virginia’s first registered marijuana lobbyist, watched from the gallery, a place he has sat many times since he started pushing for decriminalization 43 years ago.

A new poll was released yesterday by Public Policy Polling. The poll asked Virginia residents a total of nine questions relating to marijuana reform. Below are some of the questions asked, along with the results. As you can see, there is strong support for reform in Virginia right now:

A poll conducted by the firm Public Policy Polling (PPP) revealed that 60% of Virginia voters would support decriminalizing the adult possession of small amounts of marijuana, indicating strong support for state Senator Adam Ebbin’s marijuana decriminalization measure, Senate Bill 686. Decriminalization had majority support from every age, racial, and gender demographic.

As Virginia’s legislature considers a bill to decriminalize marijuana, some critics worry that doing so will send the wrong message to kids who may already view the drug as harmless, and the prospect of legalization sends some parents into a panic.

Beth Collins of Fairfax, one of two Northern Virginia mothers who have moved to Colorado to obtain medical marijuana oil for her daughter with epilepsy, is continuing the effort by mothers across the country to make the oil available for the thousands of families with children who have multiple seizures every day. After being featured in an article in The Post in April, Collins reached out to the Office of National Drug Control Policy to lobby for a shift in the federal scheduling of marijuana ...

Washington, D.C. -- The medical marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access (ASA) relaunched its VoteMedicalMarijuana.org website today, an interactive online tool that provides voting statistics and a report card for each Members of Congress. For example, the site provides details on yesterday's vote to allow Veterans Affairs (VA) physicians to recommend medical marijuana for their patients. Although the amendment didn't pass, it received more "yes" votes from Congress than any other ...

Virginia Rep. Morgan Griffith (R) this week introduced a bill in Congress that would remove the federal obstacle to prescribing and possessing medical marijuana in states where that is legal, such as Virginia. He said he knows this will be a long hard fight, “but you’ve got to start somewhere.”

Washington, DC -- Today, NORML PAC is pleased to announce its endorsement of Virginia State Senator Adam Ebbin in his campaign for U.S. House of Representatives in Virginia's 8th Congressional District.

For the parents of children with intractable epilepsy, the stream of constant seizures, emergency-room visits and powerful medications can become a demoralizing blur. Beth Collins of Fairfax County said her teenage daughter suffered as many as 300 epileptic seizures per day.

A new poll finds that Virginia voters support legalizing medical marijuana by an overwhelming 84 percent to 13 percent, but support for recreational marijuana is divided with 46 percent in favor and 48 percent opposed.

T.J. Thompson, chair of Safe Access Virginia, the newly formed state chapter of Americans for Safe Access, the national group advocating for medical cannabis (it prefers the "scientific" term over marijuana), will be leading a lobbying effort in Richmond on Monday, Jan. 20.

RICHMOND – The Richmond Ambulance Authority has placed one of its emergency medical technicians on administrative leave following his arrest for allegedly giving marijuana-laced baked goods to juveniles.